Paradise City
A bright, mid-forward Marshall crunch with a Les Paul bite.
What is the Paradise City guitar tone?
The Paradise City guitar tone is a bright, mid-forward Marshall crunch with a Les Paul bite, heard on Guns N' Roses' 1980s hard rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Guns N' Roses reportedly tracked it with Slash's Les Paul replica built by Kris Derrig, with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups, into the modified 100-watt Marshall Super Lead he rented from S.I.R. for Appetite for Destruction, through a Marshall 4x12, the album rig Guitar.com lists; it also has Izzy Stradlin most notably on a Gibson ES-175D and reportedly through a blackface Fender Bassman head, without placing either rig on this song; Slash plays lead and Stradlin rhythm; Slash says the song was written in the back of a rented van on the way home from a gig in San Francisco, with the band drinking and playing acoustic guitars, when he came up with the intro and Duff McKagan and Stradlin joined in; it is the only song on the album with a synthesizer, and in its last two minutes it switches to double time while Slash solos over the repeated chorus; Appetite for Destruction came out in 1987, and the song was released as a single in November 1988, reaching number five in the US and number six in the UK. This is a mid-forward sound rather than a scooped one, and it usually sits closer to the edge of breakup than to full saturation.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Paradise City amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 6
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Dunlop Cry Baby wah, on his pedal list for the album → Modded Marshall Super Lead, turned up
- The control that matters most
- Middle and gain, kept moderate. Slash's Appetite sound is a modded Marshall turned up, so keep the mids forward and the gain short of full saturation for the riff, then add a little for the double-time solo at the end. Slash plays lead and Izzy Stradlin rhythm, so one guitar sounds thinner than the record.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did Guns N' Roses use on Paradise City?
Slash's Les Paul replica built by Kris Derrig, with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups, into the modified 100-watt Marshall Super Lead he rented from S.I.R. for Appetite for Destruction, through a Marshall 4x12, the album rig Guitar.com lists; it also has Izzy Stradlin most notably on a Gibson ES-175D and reportedly through a blackface Fender Bassman head, without placing either rig on this song; Slash plays lead and Stradlin rhythm; Slash says the song was written in the back of a rented van on the way home from a gig in San Francisco, with the band drinking and playing acoustic guitars, when he came up with the intro and Duff McKagan and Stradlin joined in; it is the only song on the album with a synthesizer, and in its last two minutes it switches to double time while Slash solos over the repeated chorus; Appetite for Destruction came out in 1987, and the song was released as a single in November 1988, reaching number five in the US and number six in the UK.
Sources: Wikipedia: Paradise City, Guitar.com: the gear Slash used on Appetite for Destruction
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Paradise City tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Paradise City
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Paradise City tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Paradise City?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same bright, mid-forward Marshall crunch with a Les Paul bite from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Paradise City tone?
Middle and gain, kept moderate. Slash's Appetite sound is a modded Marshall turned up, so keep the mids forward and the gain short of full saturation for the riff, then add a little for the double-time solo at the end. Slash plays lead and Izzy Stradlin rhythm, so one guitar sounds thinner than the record.
Can you get the Paradise City tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Slash's Les Paul replica built by Kris Derrig, with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups, into the modified 100-watt Marshall Super Lead he rented from S.I.R. for Appetite for Destruction, through a Marshall 4x12, the album rig Guitar.com lists; it also has Izzy Stradlin most notably on a Gibson ES-175D and reportedly through a blackface Fender Bassman head, without placing either rig on this song; Slash plays lead and Stradlin rhythm; Slash says the song was written in the back of a rented van on the way home from a gig in San Francisco, with the band drinking and playing acoustic guitars, when he came up with the intro and Duff McKagan and Stradlin joined in; it is the only song on the album with a synthesizer, and in its last two minutes it switches to double time while Slash solos over the repeated chorus; Appetite for Destruction came out in 1987, and the song was released as a single in November 1988, reaching number five in the US and number six in the UK, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Paradise City a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Guns N' Roses' 1980s hard rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that it takes a plan, charged when you subscribe: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
